CHH LEARNING CENTER

Three Stages of Discovery in Medical Malpractice Cases

In most states, there are three stages of discovery in medical malpractice cases.

First Stage

In the first stage most of the questions are directed to the parties only – the plaintiffs and the defendants.

Second Stage

During the second stage the parties will ask questions of all non-party witnesses, such as your family (who may know what happened or know how the injury has impacted your life), your treating doctors (who know details about your injuries) or any other non-party witness (nurses, clerks or anyone who has information about your case).

Third Stage

The last stage is the expert stage. It is at this stage where the parties hire additional experts to testify in support of their case (these experts are called different names by the lawyers who do medical work, the least offensive being “hired,” “retained,” or “controlled” experts).

Once both sides have questioned the other’s experts, the last stage of discovery is done and the case is ready for trial.